Clothesline support and tightener



Oct. 27, 1959 Filed May 7, 1956 A. B. MOBROTEN 2,910,186

CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT AND TIGHTENER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. ARVID B. MOBROTEN BY ,ekJ

Oct. 27, 1959 A. B. MOBROTEN 2,910,186

CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT AND TIGHTENER Filed May 7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :/54 flQa gwse 44 IA II INVENTOR. ARVID B. MOBROTEN BY EJL WW United States invention relates todev'ices for supporting clothes- 2,910,186 Patented Oct. 27,1959

21', mechanism takenalong thel line, and'in the direction of the arrows 4 41in' Figure 3'. i I V Figure 5* isa frontali elevational view'of the winding and lock mechanism as seenlfrom the'i directionofthe arrow 5 ill Figure 3;, 1

Figure 6 is aisectional ,view talren'through'thewindlass;

spindle as it would be viewedallbng? the line andin the direction of thegarrows, ,6jiil Figurejg;

lines, and moreiparticularlyto a device of that character having crank operated means for adjusting the tightness ofthe clothesline withoutluntying it ,or'making any other compensating adjustments. I V

Somewhere about the premises adjacent each of a large percentage of American, homes, a pair of reasonably stout clothes posts are to be found; but the manner in which clotheslin es are supported between the posts, and the'lineal footage of hanging spaceavailable thereb etween varies considerably, In some cases the lines arefstrung Figure 7' is an exploded diaglrammatic. view showinglthe' various lcomponentparts ofjth Windlass deviccin" the order of their disa's'sembly;

Figure 8 is a sectionaldiag ramrnatic' view' showing; an alternate arrangement of one of the lioriz'ontallsupport members; and p v:

Figure 9 is adi'agrammatic pl" view-ofan alternate pulley employed in certain variations, of 'my invention. Reference is again rnade" to, Figure 1" which the numerals 10* and l1"- designate the two parallel spaced support members of the -clo'the'sline supportingdevice" of my in entionwvhich may lie-fastened" topermanently positioned vertical posts or -to facing sides of 1 adjacent buildings, or to one of both-according to the physical limitations of the particular location.

between a building and a post, or between vtwovbuildings;

sometimes the support points are'close together andfa large number of strands of line is required to accommodate-the family laundry; I

, I However, insofar as I have been able to learn, no thorfor attachmentto-posts orother support points that is adapted to provide-a substantial-amount-of lineal footage'of hanging, line within a limited distance and is adaptable'to practically all of the different physical situations and their installation requirements.

With theforegoing in mind, i havemade the following invention which will be seen to ,have a number of:important objectives. a L

One important object of my invention-is the provision oughly satisfactory equipment is available on the market 7 Fixedly attached to each" of the-horizontal support members is aplurality ofpulleys such as 12', 13, 14*and 15 which are especiallyconfor med in the manner best seen in'vFi'gui-e 3' s'hoWing' thc-pull'ey-16=witl1 its rotary member 17' pivotally attache-(Flay the-axle 18'-' to a yoke section 19Whichis integrallyifo'r med with" an elongated bolt sectionZG, threadedaiadjac'ent it's'end 21iand'having nut fastening means 22. l p

As -seen==in 'Figure' -l, the -assembly actually includes two lengths ofclo'thesline the first beginning-at pulley 23 l at oneend ofrthessupp'ort litandwb eing'idisposedlsuccessively around the pulleys 24, 25, 26, 26a and 27, and thence being-disposed .-under,- .the'nv over:and& aroundcthesvtop? of ofa clothcs supporting'device Whichwill readily -meet the, requirements of various postand; -support:arrange- Another important object of my invention is the' provision of clothes hanging equipment which can be readily installed on present posts or supporting structures.

A further important object of my invention is the provision of apparatus of the character described which will have means for adjusting the tightness of the line.

A still further important object of my invention is the provision of a device of the character described on which algreater or lesser amount of clothesline may be used according to the requirements of the individual family.

in brief, the device .of my invention includes a pair of spaced parallel generally horizontal members, each having a plurality of pulleys fixedly attached thereto and one having a hand operated Windlass with locking means therefor, by means of which the clothesline may be tightened or loosened according to the requirements occasioned by the weight of the clothing or the humidity of the climate. A

Other important objects of my invention will become apparent when the following detailed specification is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figurel is a plan View of the clothesline supporting means of my invention; 7

Figure 2 is a fragmentary diagrammatic plan View of an alternate arrangement of the pulleys;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the windlass arrangement as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4' a sectional view of the Windlass spindle the rotary sleeve of the Windlass assembly 29vbctter seen in; Figure. 3 Ihe firstlength of line-30ais attachedFtothe sleeve 28 iofthevwindlass by beinggentercd through an aperturein the,fiangei3l,,ibetter seemintFigure 6-in which the .aper'ture is designatedgbyathe numeral-32c,

The. second length ofline' 33 is extended fro'mthe pulley 14 through the pulleys 12,. 13;,,. 15,.,34-,and. nag-end is attached-to the sleeve-member 2'8 byin'eans of "an aperture 35 in the flange 36 which is more clearly seen in Figure 5. t

As will be readily understood, moving the handle member 37 in Figure 3 clockwise loosens both of the lines 30 and 33, and conversely turning the handle 37 counterclockwise tightens both lines. I

The details of the Windlass assembly are more clearly understood by reference to Figures '3 to 7; in which it will be seen that the bolt 38 is extended through the support member 10 with washers 69 on-the bolt 38 abutting each oppo'sedsurface of the support member 10..

It-will further be seen that the bolt 38 is threaded into a hollow shaftmember 39 which is tightened upon the bolt 38 into normally fixed attachment therewith. A pair of aligning holes seen at 40in Figure] are disposed through opposite walls of the shaft 39 and are adapted to align axio-diametric'ally with a similar pair of holes seen at 41 disposed in opposite walls of the sleeve,

member 28, and these holes seen at 40 and 41 are fur-' ther adapted to align collectively and receive the locking pin 42 therein to hold the sleeve 28 in fixed positioning relative to the shaft 39. y j 1 Before turning the handle 3.7 tomake an adjustment in the tightness of the line, the pin 42 is lifted-from the aligning holes and reinserted when the desired tightness is obtained. The handle 37 is inserted slidably within a pair of aligning bores seen at 43 in Figures 4-and 7 and secured therein by the cotterpin 44.

An alternate arrangement of the disposition of the line on the support members 'and 11 is indicated in fragmentary form in Figure 2 which shows a support member 45 attached to a post 46 and the clothesline 47 passing through bores 48 and 49 adjacent each end of the support 45, and beingcarried on the opposite side of the support as seen at 50 between the pulleys 51 and 52 which are disposed outwardly of the support 45 and in alignment with the bores 48 and 49 therein.

This pulleyarrangement as shown in Figure 2 permits the useof a single length of line the ends of which are afiixed to the Windlass assembly 29 in the manner previously described, which when tightened serves to impart tightness throughout the entire length of 'the line with equal tension at all points.

For installations in which the pulley arrangement shown in Figure 2 is to be used and which must be positioned against the wall or flat supporting surface, a variation in the support member itself as shown in Figure 8 is provided. As seen in the figure, the support member is channel-like in conformation consisting of a cover piece 53 and a channel member 54 which are secured to the surface of the structural wall 55 by means of a plurality of lag bolts such as 56 and 57.

An elbow pulley of the type seen at 52 in Figure 2 and shown in greater detail in Figure 9, is installed within the channel, as indicated in Figure 8, with the wheel 60 spaced sufliciently from the back 53 to permit entry and movement therebetween of the line 61. As shown in the Figure 9, the elbow pulley is similar in general conformation to the pulley 16 shown in Figure 3, but the shank 19 of the pulley 16 is extended as seen at 62 in Figure 9 then bentdownwardly at a right angle 63 to provide a shank portion ,as at 64 of sufiicient length to permit the wheel 65 to rotate above the surface 66 to whichihe pulley is secured by'means of the extended bolt portion 67 and the nut fastening member 68.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art after a careful study hereof. All such, properly within the basic spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be included and comprehended herein as fully as if specifically described, illustrated and claimed herein.

The exact compositions, configurations, constructions,

4 relative positionings, and cooperative relationships of the various component parts of the present invention are not critical, and can be modified substantially within the spirit of the present invention.

The embodiments of the present invention specifically described and illustrated herein are exemplary only, and are not intended to limitlthe scope of the present invention, which is to be interpreted in the light of the prior art and the appended claim only, with due consideration for the doctrine of equivalents.

I claim:

A clothesline supporting device, comprising: a pair of generally parallel, horizontally disposed rigid support members; a plurality of pulleys spaced along said support members; a shaft rigidly horizontally attached to one of said support members intermediate the ends thereof; a rotary drum member including a hollow cylindrical sleeve provided with spaced substantially parallel flanges having apertures therein, said hollow sleeve being disposed rotatably on said horizontal shaft; handle means for rotating said drum; locking means for securing said drum in any of a predetermined plurality of rotative positions and including aligned vertical holes through said shaft and a removable pin interfitting therethrough';ten-

sile clothesline means threaded alternately through pulleys on each of said supports to provide a plurality of transverse strands therebetwecn and having ends thereof threaded through pulleys adjacent said drum member and entered through said apertures in said flanges of said drum with one of said ends being carried over the top of said rotary drum member and secured to one of said flanges, and with the other of said ends being carried from the opposite direction around the bottom of said rotary drum member and being secured to the other ofsaid flanges, whereby turning said handle means in one direction is efiective to tighten said tensile clothesline means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

